KU Hospital Adds ER Electronic Records

Jun. 19–The University of Kansas Hospital has implemented an electronic medical record system in its emergency department.

The installation gives emergency room doctors access to information such as tests and medications patients have received at KU Hospital and KU Med West in Shawnee.

“There’s no place where instant access to information is more important than in emergency or trauma care,” said KU Hospital spokesman Dennis McCulloch. “The system allows doctors to have a full range of information about previous health history that wasn’t instantly available before.”

The emergency department installation marks the latest phase of KU Hospital’s three-year implementation of a $50 million electronic medical record system from Wisconsin-based Epic Systems Corp. The hospital already has installed the system in its inpatient rooms and recently expanded the system to KU Med West, an outpatient care facility.

KU Hospital plans to install the system in its approximately 50 KUPI physician clinics in the next year or two, McCulloch said.

In addition, KU Hospital is in talks to enable the sharing of electronic medical information among hospitals throughout the Kansas City area.